Biology subjects

Quicray, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Quicray, M..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Contrasting patterns of lifetime fat metabolism in the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and the parasitoid amber wasp, Leptopilina heterotoma

Fat accumulation and use is critical for sustaining life. Most insects show a typical response to feeding where fat is accumulated when sufficient sugars and other carbohydrates are consumed. Parasitoid insects are an exception, because most species do not accumulate fat when feeding on a sugar-rich diet. Studies on fat metabolism generally measure fat content early in life without considering lipid metabolism as a dynamic process that is expected to change as life progresses. In this paper, we compared fat accumulation and use throughout the lives of adult female Drosophila melanogaster and females of 5 inbred lines of the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina heterotoma. We expected that fat accumulation would take place irrespective of teneral fat content in D. melanogaster. We found that fat D. melanogaster initially used fat reserves, while lean flies economized on fat stores. Both lean and fat flies started accumulating fat after 7 days of life, indeed showing a typical response for insects. Unlike other parasitoids, L. heterotoma populations differs in fat accumulation patterns that we expected to observe also between inbred lines. In none of the inbred lines, however, did fat accumulation take place. Our results did reveal that inbred lines differed in the rate at which fat was used mainly later during life. We further confirmed that D. melanogaster pupal size was highly correlated with adult female size for both D. melanogaster and L. heterotoma. Overall, our findings for L. heterotoma provide strong evidence that genetic background has a major impact on the rate at which fat is used over a lifetime.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2025

The gut microbiota of two rodents varies over fine spatial scales yet is minimally influenced by the environmental microbiota

The gut microbiota of animals varies considerably between individuals within the same population. Given the importance of gut microbiota composition for animal biology and ultimately fitness (e.g., via effects on physiology, immunity and even behaviour), there is considerable interest in understanding which factors shape its variation. Here, we tested whether local environments are an important source of microbial diversity for mammalian guts, by sampling the faecal microbiota of wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and bank voles (Myodes glareolus), as well as environmental microbiotas, across Wytham Woods. We first find that both species share a low proportion of their microbiotas with local environments and that most shared microbes are aerotolerant. We then detect that microgeographic patterns (namely soil chemistry) are associated with variation in the microbiota of local environments but this does not translate to microbiota variation between animals. Nevertheless, between-individual gut microbiota variation is strongly associated with where animals are sampled, suggesting that other local factors (e.g., biotic environment, interactions between individuals) are much stronger predictors of microbiota composition than local abiotic factors. Finally, we find that wood mice (but not bank voles) are more likely to share microbes with local than non-local environments, but that local environments still contribute little to animal microbiotas. Our findings challenge the prevailing view that mammalian microbiotas are strongly affected by local soil chemistry or the abiotic environment, while further supporting the prediction that biotic and/or other intrinsic factors (which can also act on a local scale) contribute more to microbiota composition.

ecology↗